It Wasn't Your Fault
by No Pain No Gain
Summary: He said it wasn't my fault... But that scream... When he died... It sounded so human... Those eyes... When he passed away... That last pleading look... They'll never stop haunting me... DL fic, NOT YAOI! Link's POV, Rated T for battle, OoT Water Temple.


**Author Notes:**

**I dunno how this popped into my mind. It was probably when I decided to play OoT for the 4th time over again.**

**Yeah, must have been that.**

**I'll tell you more on the bottom as not to spoil too much.**

**And this is kinda like a side-story to "The Puppet", my other Dark Link Oneshot (which I am immensely proud of *w*) so yeah :) You can decide to read that, but I think this is fairly understandable on its own xD **

**It's Link's POV, by the way ^_^;**

**So... enjoy! :)**

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I growled in annoyance as he jumped over my blade, standing on it, for the fifteenth time since we started battling. It wasn't fair! How could anyone do that? My thoughts were broken when I roughly pulled my sword away, making my doppelganger back flip off of it.

"_What's the matter, Link? Scared?"_

I lifted my azure eyes, peering deep into my alter ego's crimson ones, hearing his telepathic words. Dark Link smirked and attacked again. I blocked with my shield, and returned the blow, him mirroring my former block.

"I would never be scared of my own shadow." I replied, locking blades with him.

Being two mirrored entities, both of us kept pushing equally, the blades not even budging an inch.

In my childhood, when I had first met Zelda, Impa had told me that reading an enemy's eyes can tell many things about the person. Which is why I always took the time to analyze my enemies.

But him…

Those blank eyes, devoid of pupils and irises, showed nothing.

Or everything.

I didn't know if it was the light making optical illusions in his eyes as it reflected off the Mirror Lake or just the plain reality. Thousands of emotions seemed to be dancing in his eyes. Sadness, pain, fear, confusion, helplessness, awe, amazement, sorrow, admiration, eagerness… I could find everything in there, swirling, trying to win one over another.

But he was not human.

He was a creature born from the darkness.

A monster, moulded in my shape.

A servant of evil, sent to kill me.

And yet another one of Ganondorf's minions.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize it when Dark Link pushed harder all of a sudden, making me trip and fall back. I only felt a stinging pain across my chest, and it was enough to make me snap out of my reverie, crying out in pain.

"_Time to end this."_

Groaning in pain, I lifted my head and raised my shield just in time to block a vertical slice. Then, rolling backwards, I sprung up to my feet and pushed my shadow counterpart away with the swing of a sword.

"You said it." I frowned, reaching into my pouch. While following every one of my shadow's movements, I reached for something cool and slippery in my pouch. I grinned when I found what I was looking for.

Taking out the encased red jewel, I swiftly crushed it in my hand, feeling the Power of Din rush up my arm. With a swift motion, I slammed my hands on the ground, a ring of fire appearing behind me. Soon, a dome formed and attacked all my sides.

I lifted my head to see the progress. Dark Link was uselessly trying to block my attack with his shield. I took the time to scan his eyes, yet again.

Fear.

It dominated, this time.

It terrorized him.

He DID have specific emotions after all…

And whoever says specific emotions says…

"No…" I instantly regretted my action, only watching helplessly as my doppelganger was engulfed in fire. I remembered... In the Fire Temple. When I was caught on fire... It hurt... It burned... It was a terrible experience... No human should have experienced that.... But... I made Dark Link feel it...

At first, he only dropped his sword and shield, thrashing around wildly. But when he steadied and fell to his knees, the water around him extinguishing the fire, it happened.

He screamed.

His agonized scream of pain reverberated on the invisible walls of the room. Gasping, I dropped my weapon, breaking into a run.

His scream.

It was human.

He had a human voice.

Dark Link was human.

And it traumatized me.

I fell to my knees next to him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.

"NO!" I objected, feeling tears drip from my eyes. "NO!" I shook him again.

I had never killed before.

Of course, I'd slain many monsters and vile creatures.

But he…

He was human…

I'd never killed a human before. It was such a harsh feeling, knowing that you had just taken everything from someone who could have lived, loved, laughed, smiled, done everything they'd wanted.

Shadow creature or not, Dark Link was still a living being.

Servant of evil or not, Dark Link was human.

Ganondorf's creation or not, he still had a mind of his own.

"I'm sorry." I weakly stuttered.

For a moment, he looked up at me with his blank crimson eyes.

But… They were not blank anymore.

Just for a second, I thought I saw red eyes, pupils and irises included. Then it faded back into the endless pools of red swirling with pain, gratefulness, happiness, regret and sorrow.

"It's okay." He smiled lightly, starting to fade away. Only when his body was almost completely transparent, he added with a low, but human voice. My voice. He added along with my own voice, broken and hoarse, but MY voice... "It wasn't your fault."

And that's when he disappeared. The room suddenly shifted, the pale walls disappearing, replaced by deep blue walls. The previously locked door unlocked, a metal grating sound being all that was left in the room.

And in the place where Dark Link had just passed away stood three red rupees.

I dropped back, disgusted. No matter how broke I was, and how much I needed fairies or potions, I refused to take those rupees. Usually, I'd either get a rupee or a heart when I defeated a monster.

A monster.

Dark Link was NOT a monster.

I should not be taking the rupees in front of me.

It wasn't enough that I had killed him, but I was expected to also take away everything he had? I don't think so.

Getting up, I squeezed some water off of the hem of my tunic, then turned around, looking at the newly unlocked door. Wondering idly what I would get as a "prize" for getting rid of Dark Link, I got up and headed for the door, quickly moving inside. I didn't want to remember _that_ room anymore.

---

A Longshot. That's what I got for defeating Dark Link. A mere upgrade. Was my shadow not considered a foe powerful enough to guard a full sized weapon? He was a worthy adversary, that's for sure.

And every time I used the Longshot, every time I would hear the chain launching and clicking into place, I'd remember him. His sorrowful eyes, the last look he had given me had forever been embedded in my mind. They would haunt me forever.

And even when I fought Morpha, it felt like he was fighting alongside of me. I spotted myself for a brief moment in the reflection of the pool during the boss fight. I thought I saw a dark Master Sword slashing at Morpha's nucleus at the same time as I did, but it could have been my imagination.

It_ might_ have been my imagination…

---

As I stepped out of the Water Temple, teleported back from Ruto's side in the Chamber of Sages, I spotted Sheik. Maybe he could tell me what was the deal with the Mirror Lake?

But he didn't stop his speech, as if he had been practicing it over and over again and just wanted to get it over with. He said something I didn't pay attention to, then dove into the lake and disappeared… I never got a chance to ask him about the Mirror Lake…

So, having nothing much to do for the moment, I turned away from the dying sun, looking towards the ruined castle, where Ganondorf's tower was now standing.

I gritted my teeth at the thought of that evil man's name. He did it. He was responsible for so many innocent deaths, especially my alter ego's. First, taking my one true love, Zelda, away from me. Then, making me kill my own counterpart…

When I find him…

Ganondorf is going to be the only human I will enjoy killing. I will only be satisfied when his tainted blood will drip off my blade. Only when he falls under my feet will I calm down.

All this useless bloodshed will be compensated for. "Mark my word, Ganondorf. I _will_ kill you." I whispered harshly, glaring daggers at the castle.

But until then, there were two more Sages to be freed. Sighing, I called Epona, planning on going to Kakariko to rest for a bit. Mounting her, I looked back one more time at the Water Temple, then, taking a deep breath, I spurred her onward.

Dark Link's eyes never left me. Even as I rode, the wind flying through my hair, his voice kept haunting my mind. That voice, that human voice, was carved into the depths of my memories, forever engraved in my thoughts.

But… He said it. He had said it himself. And his words meant a lot.

"_It wasn't your fault…"_

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**Author Notes:**

**PS: THIS IS _NOOOOOTTTTTTTT!!!!!!_ YAOI. Decide to take it that way or not, it's your choice, but this fic wasn't intended to be yaoi. It's just a "regret" phase from Link xD**

**Well, anyway, so I was playing OoT all over again (for the fourth time) yesterday, and I beat Dark Link using Din's Fire (so Imma cheater. Shoot me). After a few spell casts, he died. I was just sitting back, cheering myself on for beating him on my first try, when I heard him scream. I'm serious, I got DAMN NIGHTMARES from that scream! And I refused to take the three red rupees that fell from his dying spot xD**

**_EDIT:_ If anyone wants to hear my inspirational scream (wow, that sounded so weird), here's the link to a video on youtube. Just skip towards 3:40. The scream is towards 3:54. Anyway, replace the (dot) by . and you're good to go ^_^ www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=4ojBO_Yj9Js&feature=related**

**Look it up on youtube, I dunno, "Dark Link battle OoT" maybe? Anyway, at the very end, listen. You'll hear Dark Link's scream. I know youtube kills the quality, but whatever. Anyway, his scream sounded so... human... It sounded so much like Link's voice... And... ugh, I dunno, this oneshot just popped up in my mind. Like I said, it's like a side story to my other Dark Link fic, "The Puppet". So... read that if you're kinda confused xD**

**Anyway... Please leave a review, not that you'll leave anything, cause most of the Zelda community is a Dark Link yaoi fan, but I'm not, and I bet anything that you are :P Anyway, be kind and leave a review ^_^ Thank you for reading :)**


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